


Natasha: A tale of the Revolution

by Notion_Thief



Category: Original Work
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-06-08
Updated: 2019-06-08
Packaged: 2020-04-12 13:27:15
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,031
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19132954
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Notion_Thief/pseuds/Notion_Thief
Summary: This is a story about politics, revenge, revolution, Russia, and socialism.





	Natasha: A tale of the Revolution

I was born in Leningrad. It was not known as Leningrad at the time, but rather Petrograd, as the revolution against the Tsar, and then the corrupt provisional government had not yet come. But I digress. My childhood was rather unremarkable. My father was an manager at an armaments factory, and my mother worked at home, concerning herself with cooking meals, tidying the apartment and looking after her children’s education. We lived in typical petit-bourgeois comfort, with a large and well-furnished apartment that was filled with many books for me to read. Perhaps you may laugh, but my mother encouraged me and my siblings to read, insisting that getting an education was the only way to success. I had three brothers and one sister, and I had the misfortune of being the youngest. Our family were universally Orthodox Christians, religious but not unusually so. I rarely paid attention during Mass, except for that one time when the priest had a bad cold and he kept coughing during his sermon. Ha. Now, the thing I am about to tell you is of critical importance to my story, so listen closely! I worshipped my older brother. Now, I imagine that is hardly unusual among young girls, but you must make a special note of that for later. My older brother, Peter, was the darling of the family. Athletic, a good student, and a good brother, he was adored by his parents and myself. He went to university when I was 13 years old and going to a girl’s private school in Ukraine, and I had heard very little from him or the rest of my family except by occasional letters we sent to each other to keep in touch. The end of my childhood began with such a letter when I was 15 years old. The letter was from my mother, and it was very short. It simply said to please come quickly, and it was about Peter. I took the train back to Petrograd and walked to my family’s apartment. When I opened the door, I saw my mother, who looked far older than her years. “Hello, Natasha. Please sit down.” “What is it, Mother?” My mother then started crying, which is when I first knew that something was wrong. My mother almost never cried, and was in the habit of spanking when her children were too fresh. “It’s Peter. He *sob* got arrested.” “Peter? Peter, of all people? Arrested for what?” “They say he tried to assassinate the Tsar!” “What?!” “His trial is in a week. If found guilty, he going to be *sob* executed.” “Oh my God!” “Listen, young lady. Just because Peter might be executed is no excuse for you to take the lord’s name in vain. Do you hear me?” “Yes, mother. Can we talk to him?” “I sent a letter to the warden asking just that. We can’t see Peter until his trial.” “Mother! Oh mother, why would Peter try to assassinate the Tsar? There must be a mistake!” “I’m sure that it’s a mistake too, Natasha. They say that our Peter was involved in some Socialist terrorist group.” “I can’t believe it.” “Neither can I.” “What can I do?” “Wait for the trial, that’s what you can do.” So, my family and I waited a week for Peter’s trial. When we saw him in the courtroom, he looked calm and composed, definitely our Peter. I could barely contain my shock when he plead guilty. I could simply not believe that Peter would do something so reckless. I sat in the courtroom in a sort of daze, and I remember nothing about the rest of the day. That was the last time I saw my dear brother. A week later, he was executed by hanging. When I came back to school, I had but one purpose, to avenge my brother against the wicked Tsar. This was the around the time I discovered Socialism. I was 17 at that time and browsing a used-bookstore, wishing to spend some the monthly allowance my parents sent to me. It was there I came across a Russian-Language version of Marx’s Capital. Before I bought it, I flipped through it, and I realized what must be done. That was the day I became a Socialist, a passion which I still hold to this day. When I graduated, with high marks I might add, from school, I went to a overseas girl’s college in Britain. There, I learned English, which as you can see has served me well. My main area of study was literature, but in my spare time I voraciously devoured writings from many different socialist writers. One of my main idols from back then and who I still admire to this day is Emma Goldman, who helped me become more conscious about women's rights. When I graduated from college, I moved back to Russia and worked as a private English tutor for wealthy children. Now and then, I did not find that as important as my real job, a political dissident and Socialist. As soon as I came back to Russia, I secretly joined the Russian Social Democratic Labor Party. I attended the 2nd Party Congress, and quickly aligned myself with the Bolshevik faction of the party. I thought that radicalism was perhaps necessary for the health and vigor of the Revolution, though if I knew then what I know now, I never would of aligned myself with those bureaucrats and bloodsucking leeches. I must confess that I was attracted to Lenin’s charisma, and I believed strongly in his arguments. The thing you must know about Lenin is that, although he was was an very unimpressive-looking man, he had such a tremendous force of personality that you could not help but stand in awe of him when he began talking. After I left the congress, I became a tremendous follower of Lenin. He is my second idol, after Emma Goldman.I became a voracious reader of Pravda, the party magazine, making special note of the articles Lenin wrote. I was lucky enough never to have gotten caught by the Okhrana for my subversive activities, and there were multiple close calls.


End file.
